Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Sells 66,700 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lowered its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 351,115 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 66,700 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 0.6% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ owned 0.05% of American Express worth $94,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $322.83 on Thursday. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $224.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $311.05.

American Express Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.